Hochuli's call is flawed, and so is instant replay

DENVER – Referee Ed Hochuli was born on Christmas Day. Denver quarterback Jay Cutler was born in Santa Claus, Ind.

So how come the Chargers feel as if they've been grappling with the Grinch?

Hochuli's wrongful whistle erased a critical Cutler fumble with barely a minute remaining in regulation Sunday, and the Broncos quarterback responded to the bizarre reprieve by throwing a touchdown pass and a game-winning two-point conversion to beat the Chargers, 39-38.

It was a turn of events to turn San Diego stomachs.

“It was a fumble, clear to everyone on our sideline, and I'm sure all the fans,” Chargers coach Norv Turner said. “Ed came over to me and said he blew it and that's not, to me, acceptable. This is a high-level performance game and it is not acceptable to have a game decided on that play.”

The Chargers were angry as they left Invesco Field, but their ire was directed inward as well as at the officiating. It's hard to hold the officials completely accountable when you allow 31 points in the first half, but it's equally hard to work your way back into the game and have it taken away by a third-party blunder.

Here's what happened: With the Chargers clinging to a 38-31 lead, Denver drove the length of the field to a first-and-goal at the San Diego two-yard line.

On first down, Michael Pittman was stopped a yard shy of the end zone. On second down, Cutler rolled right in search of a receiver, but lost his grip on the ball as he raised it in anticipation of a throw.

“I think it was a fumble,” Cutler admitted. “It's one of those plays that just happens. We get some good calls every once in a while.”

Charger linebacker Tim Dobbins covered the fumble – and replays confirmed it was clearly a fumble – only to have the ball returned to Denver through a fluky flaw in the replay system.

“The ruling on the field was that it was an incomplete pass,” Hochuli told a pool reporter. “We went to replay. It should have been ruled a fumble. By rule – by the instant replay rules – on that particular play where there's a pass/fumble, a quarterback pass/fumble – the rules do not permit you to give the ball to the other team. All we can do to fix it is put the ball at the spot that it hit the ground.”

Hochuli argued that the call was “really not even a whistle issue,” but the Phoenix lawyer lost me with his logic. If the whistle had not been blown, Dobbins could have recovered the ball and the replay system would have upheld his recovery. Because the whistle was blown, the play is governed not by equity or reason, but by procedure.

The NFL's replay review system exists to fix errors, but it is evidently powerless against a mistaken whistle.

“To have something like that happen is just not good,” Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. “The NFL is (constantly) holding us accountable for what we do. The officials should be accountable, too.”

Ed Hochuli may be looking at a reprimand. The Chargers, meanwhile, are looking at a loss.